broodhollowfandomcom-20200214-history
089 The Rules
The background is white. ; Panel 1 Planchett, sitting at a round table next to the owner of the Hotel Umbra, holds a hand of four cards and reaches for a pile of two cards on the table. A superior look on his face, he says "...And I told him *any* new construction would have to reflect that! Ran off with his *tail* between his legs. Ha! Keep." The owner of the Hotel Umbra, holding a hand of five cards, reaches out towards the middle of the table, where other cards are laid out. He says "Keep. I'll draw two." The room they're in is apparently paneled with light and dark pink striped wallpaper, and the chairs are red with gold trim. ; Panel 2. Zane, who is sitting timidly between the owner of the Hotel Umbra and Mayor Osgood holding his hand of cards, looks around the table and says "I don't quite get the rules." Osgood, smiling and holding up his own hand, replies "It's early yet! Parlor Oubliette takes a few hands to follow. Mostly we use the time to talk turkey!" The reader sees now that they are part of a group of six people sitting around a circular table. From the left, there's Planchett, smiling nastily, the owner of the Hotel Umbra, sorting through his cards, Zane and Osgood, then across the table, their backs to the reader, are two men. One has a squareish head, brown hair with a bald spot at the crown, and dark skin, and the other has spiky brown hair, white skin and wears glasses. Both are holding up their own hands. ; Panel 3. Zane, taking a card out of his hand, looks nervously over at Mayor Osgood and says "Does Planchett *always* talk about business?" Osgood replies with a slightly exasperated, slightly indulgent look, "The society connects us to something greater. That's different things to different people, I suppose." ; Panel 4. Osgood, taking a card out of his hand and looking intently at it, continues "Money isn't everything though! Look at poor Harker. Lost his wife and kids in the great fire. All the wealth on Earth can't replace *that*. Family is very important, Wadsworth. Virgil would have agreed with me." ; Panel 5. Zane, turning his head to look directly at Osgood and looking concerned, says "And Iris' father... He was important to *her*, right? So when did he die? Was it a *month* ago or a *day* ago? ... Mayor Osgood?" ; Panel 6. Mayor Osgood, still holding his cards and resting a hand on the table, is staring back at Zane. His eyes are wide open and completely vacant, and his mouth is closed into a thin, expressionless line. The wallpaper color has changed from light pink to light green. ; Panel 7. Mayor Osgood, his expression back to its usual cheeriness, looks towards the glasses-wearing man to his side and asks "Fortify or keep?" The man shows him a card and, smiling, says "*Ha ha!* A full tower!" Osgood replies, "Lucky!" The wallpaper color has returned to light pink.